advid.net writes: Commission investigating the circumstances of the Galileo launch failure found that a frozen Hydrazine line caused fuel starvation for 18mn on two attitude control thrusters.

As a result of the incorrect initial attitude during barbecue operations, Fregat did not achieve the proper orientation for the second burn, pointing its thrust vector in an erroneous direction leading to the off-target insertion of the two Galileo satellites.

It remains to be answered why the attitude discrepancies that originated in the first 38 minutes of the mission were not detected by the onboard computer or teams on the ground watching over the vehicle in real time.

It is also unknown whether it is a standard design on Fregat to mount the cold Helium line in close proximity to the Hydrazine pipeline or whether the lines got bundled by accident.

advid.net writes: Have you ever wondered why the furniture look so beautiful in the catalog, but not that much once in your home?

In the IKEA catalog 75% of the pictures are computer generated, only 25% are shots of real scenes with real products.

CG Society interviewed Martin Enthed and his team about how they managed to switch from traditional shooting to CG:

[...] the real turning point for us was when, in 2009, they called us and said, “You have to stop using CG. I’ve got 200 product images and they’re just terrible. You guys need to practice more.” So we looked at all the images they said weren’t good enough and the two or three they said were great, and the ones they didn’t like were photography and the good ones were all CG!

The article stress many advantages CG have over traditional shooting, and points out that even the kitchen, the most expensive shooting, has its layout localized to the targeted country (big white sink or small stainless sink, more drawers,...).

advid.net writes: The designer and developer of the world's most advanced total artificial heart project announces the first implantation of its artificial heart, as part of its feasibility study and in accordance with the approvals granted by the French health authority and the ethics committee.

This artificial heart is total, biocompatible and self-regulated, it slows down or accelerates when needed. The external battery is on a belt.

The procedure was performed on December 18, 2013 by the Georges Pompidou European Hospital team in Paris — a world first.

An anonymous reader writes: I've writen a song (lyrics and rhythm) that I want to make and distribute for fun, not for money, but I am afraid of what fanatics could do to me. This song can be understand in a way that hurts the feelings of some crazy people — some of them could kill for that — so I'll try to make it anonymously. I need to find at least one singer who sing it for me without being able to find who am I. I can make some midi file to mix the song and then I need to release it anonymously online.

Do you have any idea, advice or scenario for this project ?(I can't use speech synthesis because lyrics' diction will be very specific)

This may not make a/. story, so please, answer here in "submissions", I'll read.

advid.net writes: "Today I see that Slashdot has a new web interface, no more on a single extensible page whith "more stories" button. Now there are previous and next buttons to switch from one age to another...

Why did they changed this ? Why do they do like the others web sites ?

advid.net writes: "As one blogger is freed, another is sent back home to face death penalty:

Malaysia has deported a young Saudi journalist who is wanted in his home country over Twitter posts about the Prophet Mohammad that sparked calls for his execution, the Malaysian government has confirmed.

Hamza Kashgari, who was detained in Malaysia on Thursday after fleeing Saudi Arabia, left the country in the custody of Saudi officials on Sunday, a statement of the Malaysian Home Ministery said.

Kashgari, a 23-year-old Jeddah-based newspaper columnist, fled to Muslim-majority Malaysia after making comments on the microblogging site deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed, which fuelled a surge of outrage in the kingdom.

Kashgari apologised for his comments and said he was being made a he a "scapegoat for a larger conflict".
Insulting the prophet is considered blasphemous in Islam and is a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

First, in a vibrating container they put a liquid like silicon oil, vibrations are just bellow the Faraday instability threshold. Then a drop of the same liquid is dropped on the surface, but it does not coalesce, it bounces. And further bounces make a static wave pattern on the liquid surface just bellow the drop and its immediate neighborhood. As the spike grows, instability increases and the drop slides down the spike, and start moving horizontally.

Then they have a combo object drop+wave pattern moving at 1/10th the speed of wave in this liquid, straight. They call it a walker.

What is really amazing is that the wave pattern below the drop has some kind of memory: it has accumulated energy from several drop bounces. It can also make the drop see "forward", as the small wave pattern bounces back from nearby obstacles. So the drop is "aware" of its environment and "recall" the path it has followed.

Diffraction is observed and explained by the multiple reflexions the wave makes when the drop passes through a small hole, randomizing the wave pattern and the angle of the path afterward. Interference patterns observed are explained a la de Broglie: as the drop passes through one of the two holes, its associated wave passes through both, carrying forward the message of the second hole to the drop and changing the statistical repartition of the drop's path direction. One more stunning result: they are circling the drop by moving the container (Coriolis), then the associated wave adopts a discrete series of pattern, depending on the speed and radius. Very much like the energy quantization of electrons. English (and French) abstractA short article (French but it has photos and formulas)Full thesis (French,10Mb)

advid.net writes: The long awaited Duke Nukem Forever, the king of the vaporware, was — at last — finished this year. During those years I noticed that the Duke has many followers here on/.

This is why I ask the crowd:
What would you have liked to get instead of this disappointing game?
Or what the next Duke Nukem should be like ?

It seems everyone agrees with games reviews: they took out the fun that DN3D once had.

Obviously we want back: — maps free to explore, no more lame disneyland path to follow like a track. — 10 weapons to carry(not counting fists and boots), quick change by keyboard (PC gamers), because choosing the perfect weapon for a job is fun. — fast Duke, not one that can't breath after a 10s sprint. And higher jumps also.

These are the minimum requirements.
And the paradox is that going back to this old gameplay would lead to a new kind of FPS among those we have today. Don't you think so?

Along with that I wonder if you have some other ideas.

Maybe the Ego thing is a good idea to keep, or some combination with life points ?

Interaction with the maps is poor in Duke Nukem Forever, it could be improved with the next Duke Nukem, but I know it is quite some work for developer teams. I think it doesn't matter if you can't destroy walls, doors, and furniture; but some new unusual and innovative map and object interactions should be worked out for the fun and the gameplay.

Then, humor and story are more a matter of taste.
I would suggest a worldwide contest to send new jokes, they will be kept secret unless discarded by some kind of small team of dedicated fans.
Collaborate to build a new story without telling the whole picture or all the details to gamers: do you have any experience in such participation?

Also: dying. Duke should die with more class. Bloody broken glasses aren't enough. Different kinds of death, maybe from another point of view, not with Duke's eyes.By the way, are the other camera angles gone?

One last question:
How could we call the next Duke Nukem adventure ?
I suggest Duke Nukem Unleashed.(by contrast to Duke Nukem Forever, very restrained)

I hope someone will be able to push those requirements and your answers to an editor, so the Duke that we like can come back... when finished !

advid.net writes: "When a writer just doesn’t know how to tell his new story or, worse, when he hasn’t yet any story to tell but needs to write one, he can make up a prophecy. To resort to a prophecy is an easy trick to make a story. He doesn’t even need to justify anything, to explain where the prophecy comes from or why it says so. The characters keep telling “the prophecy says...” or “according to the prophecy...” without any background or justification. The prophecy is just there. And of course each time a character talks about the prophecy, he is at least respectful and usually speaks with solemnity and deep eyes. Even the bad guys believe, and if someone laugh at it, then this is the moron, the dumb guy. Nobody in the story will challenge the prophecy or say it is crap or bullshit.

The writer can also lengthen the story by telling us how the characters discover the prophecy. Well, first they will have heard about it. Then they have to find the writings or someone telling the prophecy to them. Before that, they will have to get somewhere, break in something, quite a journey. Then, once the prophecy obtained, they need to decode it and interpret it. Besides later another reading of the same text will lead to another conclusion, this is a cheap way to start over a new stunning adventure in the story.

Everyone knows films, books, games which have used this prophecy trick as an easy make-up for a shallow story.

Why am I telling this ? Because I’m just tired of those prophecy stories, I’m sick of it. Enough. Please, can someone in Hollywood, in editors companies, in video game teams, tell them to stop using this trick ?

Last time I’ve seen this trick used, it’s in StarCraft II campaign (crystal missions). I though “Oh! No! Not again! Aaaargh ! The old Prophecy Trick strikes again! Damned! Shame on SC2 team.”

Don’t get it wrong: this game is really great.
But come on: do we really need to be treated like that? (And the Zerg burrow capacity explanation remind me the midi-chlorians in Star Wars 1... What a pity to add non-sense to the mystery.)

Does this prophecy trick also upset you and did you saw it in use recently ?"

advid.net writes: "Just in case I get involved in an car accident, I want to install one of those car black box to record a front view video while driving.

I believe it could help prove which side was wrong. It could be usefull if I'm wrongly accused of speeding or having a red light. Or to know who has damaged the car while parked.Some of those devices can record two video chanels, 3D g acceleration, GPS position (with speed), HD video (for plate and face identification).

I'm sure some of you have experimented such geeky device:)

Could you share your experience ? Is it efficent ? Is there any problem with it regarding your country/state's law ?"

advid.net writes: "French President N. Sarkozy asks for the majors to release their catalog to all platforms of music downloading.
The majors have fought against this proposal suggested by a government commission. They didn't expect such requirement during the president's 2010 wishes. Universal COE was standing KO as he thought that his lobbying has been successful.

Translation of the last part:N. Sarkozy gives a year to the majors so they can negotiate rights and "liberate" their music files on all platforms. Failure to do so, they will have to "bargain rights under the law of compulsory collective management through civil societies," he said. For the majors, it's everything they hate! Because a civil society distribute revenues without necessarily benefit producers at the expense of the authors...
The President went even further by launching the idea of a unique gateway reference all the catalogs and music videos. "Do not complain that others do better than us, if we do not give us the means to do as well as they do," he said. If Sarkozy does not falter, it announced that the time of the omnipotence of American portals on cultural content may be gone soon..."

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I'm a nerd, reading/. for many years, I only registered later, thus this high id... Computer scientist, Oracle dba, fond of systems, using Linux, Windows and Mac OS. I like any kind of creation, my hobby over all. Too many projects.